Five of the Finest Golf Courses in North Carolina

​North Carolina provides golfers with various quality courses, including numerous from the contemporary course developers Tom Fazio and Donald Ross, an icon of golf's Golden Age of course design. Fazio accounts for 13 of the state's top 40 courses, based on Golf Digest's biennial list of state and national course rankings, and five of the top seven. However, Ross's 10 high-ranking North Carolina courses include the state's finest course, Pinehurst No. 2.

Ranked No. 2 in Golf Digest's 2022-2023 list, Pinehurst has claimed the top spot from the Wade Hampton Golf Club, thanks partly to a massive overhaul undertaken by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw in 2010. Renovations centered around removing all of the Bermudagrass planted during the 1970s and replacing it with wiregrass, scattered pine needles, and hardpan sand. The redesign minimized irrigation to keep the course sandy, allowing for firm, fast play. Golgers immediately responded positively, and the course hosted the Men’s and Women’s United States Open tournaments. The course handled the attention well despite the tournaments occurring in consecutive weeks.

The reduced irrigation has also drawn rave reviews from environmentalists; Golf Digest named Pinehurst No. 2 a Green Star environmental award-winner. Following the double US Open booking, Pinehurst No. 2 and No. 4 shared the 2019 US Amateur Championship, and Pinehurst No. 2 hosted the 2024 US Open. The United States Golf Association selected Pinehurst No. 2 as host of future US Open tournaments in 2029, 2035, 2041, and 2047. The No. 4 course also ranks among the top 10 courses in North Carolina.

Wade Hampton Golf Club slipped down the rankings to No. 2 but remains a well-reviewed experience for North Carolina golfers. Fazio prioritized integrating course design with the surrounding landscape. Course design aficionados describe Wade Hampton as "restrained." Fairway routing follows a natural valley through mountains, and small streams block several holes. Wade Hampton received Best New Private Course by Golf Digest honors in 1987, and it has never ranked outside of the national Top 40 since its debut.

The course at Old Town Club climbed from No. 4 to No. 3 on the Golf Digest rankings. Following his efforts on the Prairie Dunes and Southern Hills courses, course designer Perry Maxwell took a different approach to Old Town. The course features Maxwell's only double green, an expansive putting surface that supports multiple hole placements. Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw updated Maxwell's ambitious bunkering; while the duo removed and relocated several bunkers, they retained Maxwell's immense and unusual shapes. Coore and Crenshaw also furthered Maxwell's vision of removing as many trees as possible, resulting in an extended fairway spanning the seventh, eighth, ninth, 17th, and 18th holes. The course debuted on Golf Digest's national rankings in 2019 and has since climbed 45 spots.

Old Town ascended to No. 3 at the expense of Diamond Creek, which slipped one spot to No. 4. While purists frown on manmade water features, Diamond Creek receives positive reviews. Its waterfall provides a stunning backdrop to the 17th green, a par 3. Fazio positioned the water feature near a granite quarry, allowing the water to fall over 100 feet.

Mountaintop Golf and Lake Club broke into the top five on the 2023-2024 rankings. Another Fazio design, Mountaintop, is a marked contrast from nearby Wade Hampton. Rather than following the natural landscape, Mountaintop's creation began with large amounts of dynamite. Fazio blasted the local Blue Ridge Mountains, resulting in sloping fairways, high granite walls, and sheer drops.

A few additional highly rated golf courses in North Carolina include Eagle Point Golf Club, the Quail Hollow Club, the Grandfather Golf and Country Club, and the Charlotte Country Club.

Thomas Keehn Maryland

Shop